The Impact of Offering Baccalaureate Degrees on Institutional Enrollment in Community Colleges

Abstract

Objective: The community college sector plays a vital role in broadening access to education and helping states meet their workforce needs. An emerging trend and potential lever to better achieve these goals is the community college baccalaureate or CCB. Yet, opponents wonder whether CCBs may lead community colleges to abandon their traditional logics. This study attempts to help address this question. Methods: Using institution-level panel data, I employ various difference-in-difference approaches to estimate the impact of CCB adoption on overall enrollment levels, as well as the enrollment of historically underrepresented student populations. Results: I find that CCB adoption leads to significant increases in overall student enrollment; these results are robust to alternative specifications and control groups. Yet, enrollment-related impacts vary by selected student populations. I find no consistent evidence that CCB adoption shifts community colleges away from their commitment to underrepresented students, though there may be a tipping point not yet reached by current levels of CCB adoption. Contributions: These findings have important implications for policy and practice as institutional leaders and policy makers continue to debate, adopt, and implement baccalaureate programing at the community college level.